Colorado Governor Announces $66.4 Million Investment to Expand Colorado Rail

Recently, Governor Polis, Senator Michael Bennet, Congressman Joe Neguse, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen, Colorado Department of Transportation Executive Director Lew, Longmont Mayor Joan Peck, Erik Davidson, RTD Board Chair and local officials celebrated funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, to improve rail transportation and safety infrastructure in Colorado.

Colorado received $66.4M in grant funding from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), with the state matching almost $28 million from the State’s IIJA match fund to improve safety on the BNSF line north of Denver and helping to proactively prepare the state for fast, convenient, and safe passenger rail service.

“Today’s grant will make freight rail traffic in some of our busiest growing communities safer quickly while providing critical building blocks for Passenger Rail.  This major funding will help achieve important priorities like complying with longstanding federal standards and improving the safety of rail crossings, which can be the sites of dangerous incidents. With more than $66 million in federal support from the Biden-Harris administration, the future of Colorado’s rail network is a clear priority for the federal government, as it should be. We thank Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet, Congressman Neguse and Congresswoman Pettersen, the BNSF Railway, and our communities for their support of this important project,” said Governor Jared Polis.

“A unified statewide effort with the Polis Administration has made this important milestone possible.  We appreciate the unwavering support of our Congressional delegation, along with that of local partners in communities across the state. The Biden-Harris Administration has consistently recognized the state’s seriousness about freight safety and passenger rail, recognizing the Front Range Passenger Rail corridor for the National Corridor ID program, and now by providing this grant to improve the safety of freight operations while also opening doors for future passenger rail. We appreciate their efforts and the time that their leadership has consistently dedicated to our efforts,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew.

“This is a major step forward for Colorado and the future of safe freight and passenger rail in our state. We are thankful to our federal partners, BNSF Railway, members of Congress, and local leaders for their relentless efforts to secure this major funding from the Biden-Harris Administration,” said John Putnam, Senior Advisor, Colorado Department of Transportation.

This grant to improve the BNSF Front Range Subdivision is one of four Colorado projects to receive CRISI awards announced today. Colorado State University-Pueblo was awarded almost $12 million to enhance the ability to test hydrogen and compressed natural gas advanced technology trains at the FRA Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo.  San Luis Central Railway and Omnitrax were awarded funds to replace ties to increase safety and reduce maintenance costs for short lines in rural Colorado.

“The Colorado Department of Transportation’s Modernizing Rail on the Front Range project will improve existing rail operations along the Front Range by delivering improvements to several highway grade crossings, constructing a new passing siding, and deploying the safety overlay of positive train control across a portion of the corridor,” said Jim Tylick, Assistant Vice President Passenger Operations at BNSF. “We appreciate the early collaboration with the Front Range Passenger Rail District, CDOT, and the FRA as intercity passenger rail is considered along the Front Range in Colorado. We know the projects identified in this grant will benefit the rail corridor today while also providing benefit in the future as passenger rail is explored.”

In April, Governor Polis joined U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to visit the Floyd Hill Project, a seven-mile stretch of I-70 from exit 248 northwest of Evergreen to exit 241 in eastern Idaho Springs that works to eliminate a bottleneck on one of the most congested stretches of the I-70 Mountain Corridor. This project was announced in October of 2022 and made possible by state and federal investments, including a $100 million grant from the Biden administration.

In December 2023, Front Range Passenger Rail was included in the Federal Rail Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development program, which brought additional federal support for Colorado ahead of today’s grant award. Since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Colorado has won over $400 million in competitive grant awards to support key infrastructure projects across the state.